Pharmacogenomics News and Research

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The terms pharmacogenomics and pharmacogenetics are often used interchangeably to describe a field of research focused on how genes affect individual responses to medicines. Whether a medicine works well for you—or whether it causes serious side effects—depends, to a certain extent, on your genes.

New initiative aims at reducing adverse effects of medications in individuals with mental illnesses

Geneticists at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health will provide their scientific expertise to a new initiative aimed at preventing and reducing the adverse effects of medications in people with mental illnesses.

4 Feb 2015

Patient's gene profile influences effects of statins

The Montreal Heart Institute Research Centre is once again pushing the limits of knowledge in personalized medicine. A meta-analysis combining the results of several pharmacogenomic studies and involving over 40,000 research subjects now makes it possible to demonstrate a different response to statins according to the patient's gene profile.

29 Oct 2014

Genome Canada awards $6M grant to CAMH and Assurex Health

Assurex Health and Canada's Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) today announced they have received a $6 million grant from Genome Canada, an agency of the Canadian government, to study the benefits of genetic testing to guide medication decisions for patients with depression or schizophrenia.

17 Oct 2014

Case Western Reserve researcher lands Director's New Innovator Awards from NIH

For the second consecutive year, a Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine researcher has landed one of the year's much-coveted Director's New Innovator Awards from the National Institutes of Health. Principal investigator Rong Xu, PhD, assistant professor of medical informatics, will receive $2,377,000 for five years, starting immediately, to initiate computational analysis of thousands of drugs and their effects.

8 Oct 2014

Gaucher disease: an interview with Dr Clement Olivier, Shire

Gaucher disease is the most common condition within a family of rare diseases known as the lysosomal storage diseases. The disease causes lipids to accumulate in cells, which is why it is referred to as a storage disorder. The accumulation occurs mainly in the spleen, liver, and bones, but may also occur in the lungs, heart, and central nervous system.

30 Sep 2014

Three Scottish universities to offer a new course in stratified medicine

Stratified medicine, which uses the genetic make-up of patients and their differing responses to drugs to create more personalised and effective forms of treatment, has been hailed as one of the most important concepts to emerge in 21st century clinical science.

7 Aug 2014

New avenues for treatment of Alzheimer's disease

Judes Poirier, PhD, C.Q., from the Douglas Mental Health Institute and McGill University in Montr-al (Canada) and his team have discovered that a relatively frequent genetic variant actually conveys significant protection against the common form of Alzheimer's disease and can delay the onset of the disease by as much as 4 years.

15 Jul 2014

Agena Bioscience expands ultrasensitive somatic mutation detection technology

Agena Bioscience, Inc., which recently acquired the Bioscience business of Sequenom, Inc., today announced expansion of the UltraSEEK™ technology, the first ultrasensitive somatic mutation detection technology for high-throughput and definitive interrogation of rare mutations that occur at less than 1% abundance in matched tissue, circulating plasma, and tumor samples.

31 May 2014

Agena Bioscience acquires Sequenom’s Bioscience business

Agena Bioscience, Inc., a portfolio company of Telegraph Hill Partners (THP), today acquired the Bioscience business of Sequenom, Inc., which sells the MassARRAY® System for mass spectrometry-based detection of nucleic acids in research and clinical laboratories.

31 May 2014

GEN Publishing introduces semi-monthly digital publication focusing on OMICs technologies

GEN Publishing recently introduced Clinical OMICs a semi-monthly digital publication focusing on the application of OMICs technologies in clinical settings. These advanced techniques, such as next-gen sequencing, are beginning to transform medical care just as they revolutionized basic life science research over the past decade-and-a-half.

26 Apr 2014

Personalis receives CAP accreditation

Personalis, Inc., a leading provider of genome-based diagnostics, announced today that its onsite clinical laboratory has received accreditation from the College of American Pathologists (CAP), meeting the highest standard of excellence in clinical laboratory practices.

23 Apr 2014

Personalis and Inova team up to advance genomic medicine

Inova Translational Medicine Institute and Personalis, Inc. today announced a partnership to advance genomic medicine for Inova's patient population.

27 Mar 2014

Researchers to discuss implications of genomic sequencing at ACMG meeting

Researchers from the Mayo Clinic Center for Individualized Medicine will present results of three different studies evaluating implications and feasibility of genome sequencing at the ACMG Annual Clinical Genetics Meeting this week in Nashville, Tenn.

27 Mar 2014

Innovative study uses pharmacogenomic test to treat patients with psychotic disorders

ValueOptions, Inc. a health improvement company specializing in mental and emotional well-being and recovery, and Genomind, a personalized medicine company, today announced an innovative study that uses pharmacogenomic testing to treat patients diagnosed with psychotic disorders, including schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.

11 Mar 2014

CHOP develops unique laboratory test to characterize genes that encode HLA molecules

Immunogenetics experts at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) have developed a unique laboratory test to characterize the genes that encode HLA molecules. The test relies on faster, more comprehensive gene sequencing technology to type human leukocyte antigens (HLAs)--complex, highly variable proteins on cell surfaces that are essential to immune function.

13 Feb 2014

Findings may help doctors personalize preterm birth prevention treatments

New research findings may soon help doctors personalize preterm birth prevention treatments by identifying which women at higher risk for preterm birth will be helped by progesterone injections.

4 Feb 2014

ACM Global acquires Phoenix PCS to expand operation in the Asia Pacific region

ACM Global Central Laboratory, a diagnostic central laboratory specializing in delivering high quality testing services which optimize clinical trial outcomes, today announced it has acquired Phoenix Pharma Central Services Pte. Ltd, a premier central laboratory services provider for Asia Pacific clinical trials, with laboratory facilities in Singapore and Shanghai, China. The acquisition enables ACM Global to deliver increased operational and financial efficiencies to clients conducting clinical studies in the Asia Pacific region. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

23 Jan 2014

Study could lead towards a personalised medicine for chemoresistant lymphomata

To date, tests have only been carried out on cells, but a piece of research conducted by the Department of Genetics at the UPV/EHU's Faculty of Medicine in collaboration with MD Anderson and the CNIO is opening up the door for the treatment of lymphoma types that have a lower survival rate. The study of the molecular characteristics of the tumours would enable molecules that are altered in a specific way to be identified and turned into new therapeutic targets that would improve the prognosis of patients with chemoresistant lymphomata.

16 Dec 2013

Genetics and cardiovascular drugs: an interview with Nancy Lurker, CEO of PDI and Paul Kinnon, CEO of Transgenomic, Inc.

People inherit different versions of any particular gene, and some genes affect how patients process and metabolize medicines. This especially holds true for people with cardiovascular (CV) disease. They may be fast, slow or non-metabolizers and might also react badly (with serious adverse events) to certain drug therapies or not at all.

27 Nov 2013

Cardiologists question FDA recommendations on genetic testing before taking Plavix

Which antiplatelet medication is best after a coronary stent? The costly and potential life-or-death question lingers after most of the 600,000 angioplasties performed every year in the United States. The answer may lie in your genes, but professional cardiovascular societies and many working cardiologists question the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's recent recommendation that patients undergo genetic testing before taking Plavix (clopidogrel bisulfate).

14 Nov 2013